Thursday, April 30, 2015

Did the OCBC360 Account "Just Got Better" or are there really better savings account alternatives out there to maximise your interest returns. Lets take a look at whats new, come 1st May.

The current OCBC360 terms:

Lets take a look at the new criterias come 01-MAY-2015:

Lets discuss the criterias from the left-to-right. To prevent confusion, we will number them 1 to 5.

New Terms

1)1.2% Per Year Credit your salary of at least S$2,000 through GIRO
How to earn the bonus interest:

- Credit your salary of at least S$2,000 per month.

- You will receive this bonus interest by the 7th business day (exclude Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday) of the following month.

- Only salary credit with the transaction description "GIRO-SALARY" will qualify for this bonus.

Our take:

Previously: 1.0% Per YearThere was an upward revision of the interest by 0.2% per year. This is great news for everyone, as this criteria is probably the easiest to meet.2)0.5% Per YearPay any 3 bills online or through GIROHow to earn the bonus interest:

- Make 3 unique bill payments from this account with OCBC Online Banking using Pay Any Bill and Pay Any Card services or through GIRO.

- Multiple payments to the same bill within the calendar month will be considered as a single payment.

- You will receive this bonus interest by the 7th business day (excluding Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday) of the following month.

Our take:Previously: 1.0% Per YearThis criteria has seen its interest amount reduced from 1% to 0.5%.

An additional option of Giro payments, has been added to make it easier to qualify for this bonus interest. However, the huge reduction will significantly affect the final bonus interest amount.

3)0.5% Per YearSpend at least S$500 on OCBC Credit CardsHow to earn the bonus interest:

- Spend at least S$500 in total across your personal OCBC Credit Cards such as 365, Titanium, Platinum, FRANK, Robinsons, Plus! and Best Denki.

- You will receive this bonus interest by the 7th business day (exclude Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday) of the following month.

Our take:Previously: 1.0% Per YearSimilar to criteria 2, the bonus interest amount is reduced from 1% to 0.5%.

Also, it is worthwhile to note that the minimum spend criteria has been increased from SGD$400 to SGD$500, making it slightly more difficult to reach this criteria - especially for account holders who rarely use OCBC credit cards.

4)1% per yearInsure or invest and get this bonus for 12 monthsHow to earn the bonus interest:

- Purchase any eligible financial product of at least the minimum amount, such as Endowment of at least S$8,000 in annual premium, or investment products such as Unit Trust or Structured Deposits of at least S$40,000.

- If you make multiple purchases of eligible financial products within the same month, we will only combine purchases of the same product type which have passed 14 days after the product’s effective date. Effective date refers to the inception date of the insurance plan, trade date of unit trust, deposit start date of structured deposit and transaction date for other investment products.

- This bonus interest is paid for 12 months after the free cancellation period or 14 days, whichever is longer.

Our take:

This is a new component of the OCBC360.We feel that this additional 1% would not be easy to achieve unless the account holder is interested to purchase a financial product from OCBC. Moreover, do note the minimum amount of the investment required to qualify for this bonus interest.5) 1% per yearIncrease your account balance from the previous month’s balanceHow to earn the bonus interest:

- Incremental account balance is the difference between current and previous month’s account balance.

- This bonus interest will be paid on incremental account balance of up to S$1,000,000.

- You will receive this bonus interest by the 7th business day (excluding Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday) of the following month.Our take:

This is a brand new component of the OCBC360. Allowing account holders to earn an additional 1% on incremental balances. This means that the additional 1% will be credited on your incremental balance. (Eg: $5000 x 1/100 x 31/365)Illustration below:

We feel that the additional 1% is great only if one has a consistent stream of additional income or savings. Otherwise, the 1% bonus on the month-on-month incremental balances would not give substantial return.We do see an opportunity of moving funds on alternate months to leverage on this additional 1% - similar to our Supercharge your savings article. But it remains to be seen if it will work with the OCBC360.

Unchanged Terms

Lastly, on top of the bonus interest, you will still continue to earn a base interest of 0.05% per year on your entire account balance.

Summary

The new OCBC 360 conditions sure gives us a lot to consider. Besides revising some bonus interest downwards, they have introduced two new components. and revised certain criterias.

All else equal, if you had managed to meet the previous criteria and achieved 3.05%, you will now only qualify for an effective interest of 2.25%. If you manage to meet criteria 4 (Insure or Invest) and criteria 5 (Incremental Balance). You will probably enjoy more interest returns from the latest changes to the OCBC360 Savings Account - to the tune of > 3.25% in EIR. This is pretty good considering that the CPF (Supposedly Risk Free) returns is at 2.5% for your ordinary account.

However, if you are like me, unable to meet some of these criterias, why not take a look at the latest UOB One Account - which provides an EIR of 2.43%. Not too shabby for a savings account.

Monday, April 27, 2015

If you are looking to maximize your savings and worried about the impending changes to your OCBC 360 account (Which may effectively reduce its return to about 2.05%), perhaps you can consider the newly launched "UOB One Account". Lets take a look at the requirements to enjoy the interest rates as advertised by UOB.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The Deal

To qualify for the high savings interest for the UOB One Account, you would be required to meet the basic criterias listed below:1. Usage of Credit Cards- A minimum charge of $500 to the UOB One Card or UOB Direct Visa Debit Card.2. Salary or Giro- To credit your salary (min. of $2000) per monthOR- Perform 3 GIRO debit transactions

The Savings Interest Rates on meeting the above criterias are as follows:

Summary

Whilst the criteria set by UOB is simple enough to achieve, especially for existing holders of the One Card, the actual Effective Interest Rate (EIR) actually falls short of the headlined 3.33%. In fact, the total EIR comes up to 2.43% on your $50,000. Although it is not be as attractive as the 3.05% that OCBC 360 used to promise, it certainly will be; come 1st May, when OCBC revises that figure.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Chir Chir (Pronounced as Chi-Reh Chi-Reh) is the latest restaurant to follow the Fried Chicken craze from korea to Singapore. Having already tried various Korean Fried Chicken joints in Singapore, namely 4Fingers, Bonchon and NeNe Chicken, we were eager to see how Chir Chir fairs among its more established peers.

Snow Nest ($32.90)

We decided to order a portion of the Snow Nest after being recommended by the service staff. The Snow Nest consist of seven to eight pieces of Cajun chicken tenders, atop a generous scoop of sweet potato puree.The chicken is surrounded by a moat of cream sauce which consisted of bell peppers, broccoli, olives, grated parmesan and cheddar cheese. The novelty of this dish is the topping of whipped cream - which in our opinion, did not add much to the taste.Without having much expectation, we were pleasantly surprised by the juiciness and texture of the cajun tenders. These tenders were lightly spiced and goes perfectly with the cheesy cream sauce. We enjoyed the Snow Nest and would recommend it for sharing between 2 people.

Garlicky Wings ($28.90)

The signature korean fried chicken wings, coated with a thin batter and deep fried to perfection. These juicy wings are served with bite sized chunks of roasted sweet potatoes and fried tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes).As a basis for comparison, despite the relatively plump chicken wings, we preferred the 4Fingers rendition of the korean fried chicken wings for their amazing soy sauce coating and better tasting marination.

Macaroni and Cheese ($9.90)

Although Chir Chir is a korean fried chicken restaurant, we still had to order a Macaroni and Cheese dish simply because every one loves cheese! We loved the taste of the Mac & Cheese, but the portion is a tad too little for a dish that costs 10$.

Appetizers ($0.50 Each)

As far as we know, Chir Chir batters and fries their chicken on the spot, right after the order is put through. This might mean a 10-15 minute wait before you would be served your food.

Thankfully, we were served some appetizers to whet our appetites. The pickled radish in particular was refreshingly sweet and crunchy.

The novelty that Chir Chir brings to the Korean Fried Chicken scene is refreshing. We particularly enjoyed the freshness, tenderness and quality of the chicken used. However, we felt that perhaps the marination and taste, especially for its fried chicken, could still be improved.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Several of my single (some unavailable) peers are nearing their 35th birthday and many of them are contemplating diving straight into their bachelor pads when they are of eligible age. Knowing that there will be a handful of users who would have some burning questions regarding the eligibility and qualifying criteria for the Build-To-Order (BTO) application under the Singles Citizen Scheme, i decided to write a short guide, to compile some of the important facts you would need to know before making your purchase!

Image Credit: Space Sense Studio Pte Ltd

Eligibility

There are two main caveats for eligibility to apply for a Singles BTO. Firstly, your average gross monthly salary must not exceed $5,000.00. Secondly, you cannot be a joint owner/owner of another HDB or Private Property. For the case of the latter, you would be given a time frame to dispose of your existing private property after successfully applying for the BTO.

For those who do not even qualify due to the salary ceiling, congratulations to you! As you would be classified in the group of medium - high income earners. Unfortunately, a brand new BTO is out of bounds and your only options are the HDB resale or the private property markets.

Location

Bad news for the singles who are looking to buy a bachelor pad that is located in a convenient and matured district. Aside from the size restriction, which we will discuss in the next section, HDB only allows singles to buy BTOs from non-matured estates.

Based on the definition given by HDB, a matured estate refers to an estate that is in existence for more than 20 years. Examples of non-matured estates are listed as follows (Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Chua Chu Kang, Hougang, Jurong (East/West), Punggol, Sengkang, Sembawang, Woodlands, Yishun).

Size

There is a size restriction on Singles buying BTOs. HDB currently only allows Singles (at 35) to purchase 2 Room BTO developments. At a measly 45 square meters, you would be pretty much restricted to basically a 1 bedroom, 1 kitchen bachelor pad.

Time

Typically, the time taken from application, to receiving the keys is usually a good three to four years. At 35, most singles would be eager to move out and start living lives on own. Yet, having to wait for the BTO construction to complete for another 3-5 years would not be too enticing.

If time is of the essence, one could consider going straight into the resale market.

Grants

Singles under SSC, NCS and FT/ST couples

Singapore Citizen (First-timer) Income

AHG (Singles)

SHG (Singles)

Total

Up to $750

$20,000

$10,000

$30,000

$751-1,000

$17,500

$27,500

$1,001-1,250

$15,000

$25,000

$1,251-1,500

$12,500

$22,500

$1,501-1,750

$10,000

$20,000

$1,751-2,000

$7,500

$17,500

$2,001-2,250

$5,000

$15,000

$2,251-2,500

$2,500

$12,500

$2,501-2,750

-

$7,500

$7,500

$2,751-3,000

-

$5,000

$5,000

$3,001-3,250

-

$2,500

$2,500

Selective grants are given by HDB for applicants whose monthly salary does not exceed $3250. The lower your salary, the higher the grants you will be eligible for.
* You can read more about the HDB housing grants for Singles.

The Application Process

Once you are eligible to qualify for a singles BTO, look out for some of the BTO launches from HDB. When a desired development shows up (Example: SengKang, Sun Breeze, register for the electronic ballot by applying online.

Upon completion of the computerised balloting, you will be informed of the results of your application. If there is a realistic chance of getting a unit, you will be invited to HDB Hub at Toa Payoh for an appointment.

During your appointment, you will face a nervous wait to select your desired unit and floor. There will be several flat screen monitors displaying the available units, as well as those that have been selected by applicants with a lower ballot number (i.e, those ahead of you).

After selecting a unit, you will be required to pay the Option-To-Purchase (OTP). This is a non-refundable deposit that will be forfeited in the event you so decide to back out on your decision. For a 2 room flat, the OTP costs 500$ and has to be paid in CASH or NETs.
Subsequently, you will be asked to pay the down payment of the house (Depending on the type of loan: Bank Vs HDB). Fast forward 3-4 years later, when the construction is completed and just before you receive your keys. You will be required to deplete your CPF ordinary account, which goes to the payment of your BTO flat. This is also when you begin your monthly loan repayments.Finally, when you have moved in, you will be required to stay for a minimum of 5 years before you can sell or rent out your flat. Happy house hunting!

Saturday, April 11, 2015

CompareFIRST is an interactive web portal that allows regular people (like you and I) to quickly compare the premiums and features of similar life insurance products offered by different insurance companies in Singapore.

Credit: Shutterstock

Quick and Easy Comparison

Its main objective is to help potential buyers of insurance products make better informed decisions on pricing and coverage of the plans offered by insurance companies.

Upon making your comparisons and deciding on an insurer, one can proceed to the customer service counters or websites of the life insurance company to make a direct purchase of the policy, more commonly known as DPI (Direct Purchase Insurance).
Alternatively, you can also contact your financial adviser for more detailed understanding of the plans or simply to align with your current financial objectives.

Informational

CompareFIRST does not distribute nor sell the insurance in proxy for the insurers. You will be required to go directly to your desired insurance company to make your purchase. It is however, a great platform for you to do some 'shopping'. This will allow you to have a proper feel of the products available in the market.

Direct Purchase Insurance (DPI)

As of 7 April, prospective customers can purchase DPI from customer service counters or websites of life insurance companies. Since DPI are sold without financial advice, their premiums are slightly lower than comparable life insurance products. This is mainly because of the removal of the commission component that is usually paid to the financial adviser.

Using the Webportal

Browse to the CompareFIRST webpage. Select the product which you are interested, from the choices (DPI, Term Life, Whole Life, Endowment or ILP).

Fill in the mandatory details that will allow the system to generate the necessary insurance plan (Sex, Age, Sum Assured).Select the sort order (We suggest to sort by Lowest to Highest Premium). Choose the insurance companies that you would like to compare (up to a maximum of four).

Compare the plans in detail, export into PDF or Print a hard copy. This will allow you to make an informed decision on which insurer's plan would suit your needs.

Summary

Buying a Term or Life Insurance would no longer be a daunting task with the launch of CompareFIRST. With an intuitive and easy to use interface, comparing insurance plans between the various insurers is a breeze. Whilst having a personal financial adviser has its benefits, buying direct via DPI would also cut down on additional costs related to commissions. This is a great alternative for those looking to buy a policy and yet save some money.

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Come 1st May, there will be a deluge of changes to the OCBC 360 account that would affect your interest returns. Simply put, it will be harder to hit the criteria for the bonus interest rates. Also, several interest rate categories have been revised downwards, potentially reducing the final rate to about 2.05%. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about this change (Afterall, the bank has the full rights to adjust or amend its promotion). However, there are some really decent alternatives to the OCBC 360, check out our listing of some of the Savings account promotions from various banks that give pretty decent rates.

Our thoughts...

Despite the impending downward revision of interest rates, the OCBC 360 account is still a relatively competitive savings account - especially when compared to its peers (DBS Multiplier). Having said that we never know when there will be further adjustments or caveats to the interest rates. It is always good to have a list of other savings accounts for comparisons, to make better informed decisions!Find out how you can supercharge your savings here !

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

If you happen to be on a trip to Penang, and intend to savour some of the best desserts or just simply to have some respite from the sweltering heat. Look no further, read on for our recommendation to some of the best cafes in town - George Town, that is.

The Alley

The Alley is a laid back, off-the-beaten-road cafe, tucked in a corner at 5 Stewart Lane. This delightful cafe in Penang specializes in freshly made Churros and Cronuts (An interesting cross between a Croissant and Donuts).

We ordered the signature 6 piece churros and a cronut, accompanied by a refreshing glass of iced latte. For our choice of churros dip, we decided to go for the melted chocolate dip. It was great, smooth and robust but not enough to satisfy the both of us ! We were out of dipping sauce after our 4th stick.
We were quite pleased with our choice of the salted caramel sauce to go with our cronuts. There was a generous lather of the sauce on its surface as well as on the sides of the plate, complete with chunky oreo chips (my favourite). The Cronut, is kind of like a cross between a croissant and a donut. Made with flaky layers of pastry, the cronut is buttery but not overly oily.
The Alley serves up a mean churro (and Cronut) and it is a great cafe to spend a lazy afternoon. We highly recommend trying the combination of desserts we had.

Chinahouse

Famed for one of the most eye-popping variety of cakes, Chinahouse is a quaint shophouse converted into a beautiful cafe, serving up some of the most delectable western fusion food in Penang. Its concept seems to be derived from a collaboration of several businesses. "Kopi-C" being the bar/coffee dispensary, which also fronts the entrance via Beach Street. Next is the cake counter, with up to 30 varieties of cakes baked by Beach Street Bakery. Finally, BTB serves up some excellent western style, asian fusion dishes for those who want something savoury.
We ordered a Milo Cake, presumably a chocolate cake with added 3-in-1 milo powder on the top, ala a Milo Dinosaur. Unfortunately, the milo powder added an extra dimension of sweetness which was over bearing. The cake itself was moist, but nothing too spectacular.

The iced coffee (with ice cream) was pretty decent. They seem to use coffee beans which were roasted by Singapore's very own Nylon Coffee Roasters. Huge credit to the barista, the coffee itself was just about right, not too acidic like the ones which we had in several other cafes in Penang.
We were also pleasantly surprised with the Chicken Tika Sandwich we ordered to supplement the meal. The whole meal bread was soft and moist, layered with spiced grilled chicken breast, fresh avocados and romaine lettuce.

Mugshot Cafe

Mugshot Cafe almost did not make the list. We weren't too impressed with the coffee, nor blown away by the special homemade yogurt. However, they delighted us with one of the best bagels with cream cheese !
The flat white we ordered, was sadly, flat. It was too watery and the coffee taste was mild. Perhaps it was the barista's day off, so lets give them the benefit of the doubt. One of the specialty of Mugshot is its homemade yogurt. Stored in delightful little jars and mixed with different seasonal fruits fruits like Mango, Kiwi and some walnuts for texture.
Aside from the interesting pasta menu (which we were too full to try), the main feature of here, is the bagel. I absolutely love a good bagel and Mugshot cafe's freshly baked bagel with cream cheese, is to die for ! Charcoal baked over the open stove, the Bagel is peppered with toasted sesame seeds which complements the rich cream cheese spread. Each bite into the crusty external layer reveals a moist yet chewy inside. There is nothing better than a freshly baked bagel and Mugshot's Bagel is as good as it gets.

Moustache Houze

Moustache Houze is a moustache themed cafe which specialises in "Ice-Cube" drinks. Having an extensive list of drinks that are frozen into ice-cubes and served with milk (coffee) or soda.

We tried the ice-cube latte and ordered a tiramisu cake. The ice cube latte was nice, but could not compare to one of the best ice cube latte we had, in a cafe called Roast in Bangkok, Thailand. The tiramisu cake was good but not spectacular, perhaps because of the numerous times we have tasted great Tiramisu, our expectations we simply too high.

Overall, Moustache Houze has a nice ambience and is a great cafe to relax and chill out with friends.

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

First time home buyers in Singapore will always face several tough questions when deciding on a flat. One of them is the option to choose between a Bank and a HDB Loan. It is not an easy choice to make and choosing one over the other will eventually determine how much interest you would be paying over the lifetime of your loan.Enjoy the Infographic

Loan Details

In general, HDB has a strict loan tenure of 25 years, whilst banks allow a maximum of 30 years (albeit with some caveats).

Maximum Loan amount against the purchase price

Banks will not grant a full loan on the price of the HDB. As such, when taking a Bank loan, you will need more cash on hand.

Down Payment

Since the maximum loan amount is typically lesser when taking a Bank loan, this corresponds to a higher amount of down payment required. Conversely, when taking a HDB loan, you will not need to fork out any cash to pay for the down payment of the flat.

Interest Rate

Banks offer a fixed, variable or mixed interest rate plan. Usually, this means that the interest rate of the loan is fixed or pegged to the SIBOR (Singapore Interbank Offer Rate). HDB interest rates are pegged to 0.1% above the prevailing CPF Ordinary Account interest rates.

At the writing of this article, the indicative rates provided by Banks are about 1.3% per annum, whilst HDB rates are at 2.6% per annum

Summary for Bank VS HDB

Pros

- Interest rates are generally lower during the initial years (Within the lock-in period).

- Save tens of thousands of interest repayment over your loan tenure if you diligently refinance your loan once the lock in period is over.

- Fast approval process.

Cons

- Banks are not as benevolent as HDB when it comes to missing your scheduled payments. Your flats are collateral for your loan and the Bank has every right to repossess when you are unable to meet your debt obligations.

- Potentially volatile interest rate, the SIBOR has been steadily increasing in the last half a year (from the end of 2014). This is also in line with the expectation that US interest rates will continue to rise. Whilst HDB rates have consistently been tagged to the CPF rate (which has not risen above 2.5% since 1999).

- Banks will likely impose a penalty if you make a partial or full repayment of the loan before the completion of the lock-in period. This is to compensate them for the loss of earnings (i.e, your interest).Find out more about the tips to Buying your first BTO here

** Note: All details are based on the assumption that the borrower is a first time home buyer.